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Give BIG Green Bay crowdfunding event announces nonprofit partners

Green Bay, WI – Thirty-one local nonprofit organizations were selected to participate in our community’s first online crowdfunding event: Give BIG Green Bay. Hosted by the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and the Green Bay Packers Foundation, this community-wide, 24-hour on-line giving day will highlight the impactful work of these nonprofits and encourage everyone to donate, at any level. The Green Bay Packers Foundation provided a $250,000 grant to launch this program and create a matching pool of funds to encourage our community to give BIG.

Thirty-one local nonprofit organizations were selected to participate in our community’s first online crowdfunding event: Give BIG Green Bay. Hosted by the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and the Green Bay Packers Foundation, this community-wide, 24-hour on-line giving day will shine a spotlight on the impactful work of these nonprofits and encourage everyone to donate, at any level. The Green Bay Packers Foundation provided a $250,000 grant to launch this program and create a matching pool of funds to encourage our community to give BIG.

Starting at noon on February 27 and continuing until noon on February 28, 2018, people across the community can donate to support the work of any of the 31 organizations by visiting givebiggreenbay.org. The online giving website makes it easy to contribute any amount to make a BIG difference in Brown County. The Green Bay Packers Foundation will match donations during this 24-hour giving day.

“It’s humbling to see the caring and compassionate work our local nonprofit agencies do for the residents of Brown County,” said Mark Murphy, Green Bay Packers President/CEO. “We are proud to partner with the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation to encourage everyone in our community to learn more about the work of local nonprofits and to donate, at any level.”

A diverse cross-section of organizations serving Brown County were selected, and funds will be distributed directly to the agencies, allowing them to focus on what they do best.

“We are fortunate to live in a community with such impactful nonprofit agencies and leaders dedicated to serving our unique needs.” said Dennis Buehler, President and CEO of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. “Every day we see the incredible ways their work transforms lives of our friends and neighbors. Give BIG Green Bay is an opportunity for every citizen to get involved and celebrate their commitment to community.”

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Beginning at noon on February 27, 2018, the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation will host the first community-wide, 24-hour giving day in Brown County: Give BIG Green Bay. This event will highlight and support local nonprofits working to strengthen our community. A $250,000 grant from the Green Bay Packers Foundation will launch this program and create a matching pool of funds to incentivize donors and maximize investment.

Give BIG Green Bay is an online giving event designed to transform the way local residents think about and contribute to Brown County charities. The simplified online giving platform, www.giveBIGgreenbay.org, provides a way for everyone to learn more about the work of selected nonprofits and donate, at any level, to the causes they champion.

“We’re excited to partner with the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation to host a community-wide giving day. This one-day event in February is a great opportunity to get the whole community to focus on giving.” said Mark Murphy, President of the Green Bay Packers. “The grant from our Foundation will create matching funds to make donations go further. We’re excited to see what this community can do!”

Up to 30 organizations representing a cross-section of community agencies will be selected to participate and benefit from this inaugural crowdfunding event. Eligibility information is available online at www.giveBIGgreenbay.org. The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation will accept applications from nonprofits beginning September 1, 2017, and the last day to apply will be October 1, 2017. Selected nonprofits will be announced in January 2018.

The Community Foundation will collaborate with selected nonprofits using social, print and broadcast media to spread awareness and build excitement about the event as it approaches. The matching funds from the Green Bay Packers Foundation serve as an added incentive for the community to donate during the 24-hour event.

“Philanthropy is an important piece of creating and maintaining a vibrant community,” said Dennis Buehler, President & CEO of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. “We see Give BIG Green Bay as a way to engage the broader community and give everyone the opportunity to learn more about and support the important work of nonprofits in Brown County.”

Give BIG Green Bay is Back: 40 nonprofits will benefit from the online giving day on February 20 & 21, 2019

January 16, 2019 – After a successful launch in 2018, Give BIG Green Bay is back! The Green Bay Packers Foundation and the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation are excited to host the second community-wide giving day from noon February 20 until noon February 21, 2019. Give BIG Green Bay will highlight the work of 40 local nonprofit organizations working to change lives in our community. Thanks to the generosity of the Green Bay Packers Foundation and other donors, this year’s event will offer $312,500 in matching funds and incentives.

Last February, the Green Bay Packers Foundation and Greater Green Bay Community Foundation launched our community’s first online giving day: Give BIG Green Bay. In response, our community stepped up in a BIG way. Through the generosity of 1,718 donors, $805,610 was raised in 24 hours to support 31 nonprofits.

This year people everywhere can donate to support the work of any of the 40 local organizations by visiting giveBIGgreenbay.org. This online giving platform makes it easy to contribute any amount to make a BIG difference in Brown County. The Give BIG Green Bay team will work closely with participating nonprofits using social, print, and broadcast media to create awareness about this exciting 24-hour event. Additionally, participating nonprofits will rally their supporters to amplify the impact.

Give BIG Green Bay 2019 will offer $312,500 in matching funds and incentives – a $97,500 increase over last year. The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation will underwrite all program expenses allowing the full $250,000 Green Bay Packers Foundation commitment to be allocated as matching funds and encourage our community to give BIG. Additional matching funds and incentives are available this year, due to the generosity of Janet and Charlie Lieb, the J. J. Keller Foundation and Bellin Health. Thanks to these funding partners, every dollar donated through this exciting program will go even further to support important work happening in our community.

“We’re fortunate to live in a community with impactful nonprofit agencies and leaders who are dedicated to serving the residents of Brown County,” said Mark Murphy, Green Bay Packers President/CEO. “We are also pleased to work with the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation to encourage everyone to learn more about the important work of local nonprofits and to donate, at any level.”

A diverse cross-section of organizations serving Brown County were selected, and all funds will be distributed directly to the agencies, allowing them to focus on what they do best. More than 60% of the participating nonprofits in Give BIG Green Bay 2019 are first-time participants. The combination of experienced and new nonprofits is sure to bring a powerful energy to this giving day.

“Give BIG Green Bay is a shining example of how we are rethinking ways to create a stronger community and connect people directly with the organizations who are on the front lines addressing some of our most pressing needs,” said Dennis Buehler, President and CEO of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. “Please join us in celebrating and supporting their important work.”

Congratulations to the 2019 Give BIG Green Bay Nonprofit Partners! They are listed below by cause:

Youth Development
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Green Bay
Hands On Deck
The Children’s Museum of Green Bay

For more information, please visit www.givebiggreenbay.org.

Give BIG Green Bay raises more than $800,000 for local nonprofits

March 1, 2018 - Thousands of people from across the community helped raise more than $800,000 for 31 local nonprofits on February 27 & 28, 2018 during the community's first 24-hour online giving day, Give BIG Green Bay.

Give BIG Green Bay is an online giving event designed to transform the way local residents think about and contribute to Brown County charities. The simplified online giving platform, giveBIGgreenbay.org, provides a way for everyone to learn more about the work of selected nonprofits and donate, at any level, to the causes they champion.

A $250,000 grant from the Green Bay Packers Foundation launched the program and created a matching pool of funds to incentivize donors and maximize investment.

Give BIG Green Bay raises $1,387,860 in second year

February 26, 2019 – With celebrations across the area, wide-ranging media coverage and generous community support, Give BIG Green Bay 2019 highlighted 40 local nonprofits working to change lives in our community. The event raised a total of $1,387,860 which includes $1,075,360 of donor contributions along with $250,000 in matching funds from the Green Bay Packers Foundation and $62,500 in additional prizes and incentives. The total number of donors doubled over the program’s inaugural year and drove an 82% increase in contributions to nonprofit organizations.

Participating nonprofits rallied their supporters to amplify the impact and increase awareness of their work with fun and creative events ranging from egg and pie challenges and tailgate parties to open houses and scheduled snuggles with shelter animals.

The Give BIG Green Bay team worked closely with participating nonprofits using social, print, and broadcast media to create awareness about the event. Media including the WIXX Murphy in the Morning show and NBC 26 helped promote the day from Give BIG Green Bay Central set up in the Lambeau Field Atrium.

Thousands of people across the country supported the event by donating online at giveBIGgreenbay.org.

“We’re very excited by the response to Give BIG Green Bay and greatly appreciate the enthusiasm of those who donated,” said Green Bay Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy. “In this second year, we saw substantial growth in both the awareness of the participating nonprofits and the dollars raised to support their work.”

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed through Give Big Green Bay,” said Dennis Buehler, President and CEO of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. “The support you provided these critically important nonprofits will have an impact throughout our community for years to come.”

The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation underwrote the program expenses, which allowed the full $250,000 Green Bay Packers Foundation grant to be allocated as matching funds. Additional matching funds and incentives were available this year, due to the generosity of Janet and Charlie Lieb, the J. J. Keller Foundation and Bellin Health. Thanks to these funding partners, every dollar donated through this exciting program went further to support important work happening in our community.

The Funds for Greater Green Bay are a collection of funds of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. The grant program funds measurable strategies to make a positive impact on the quality of life and create a better future for residents of our community.

In addition to the Funds for Greater Green Bay endowed funds, other donors are invited to co-invest in vetted programs. In this cycle, donors contributed $14,500 toward programs, creating even greater impact.

Grants are awarded based on a competitive application process which includes review by a grants team of community volunteers. Two grant cycles are offered annually for the Funds for Greater Green Bay. The next deadline for applications is July 11, 2019.

The Winter 2019 grants were awarded to the following organizations and programs:

Breast Cancer Family Foundation, Elementary Cancer Education
With a mission to inspire people to lead cancer-free healthy lifestyles, this program provides cancer prevention education programming in Northeast Wisconsin elementary schools.

CP, Sensory Development and Music Therapy
A new inclusive program helps more than 40 children, ages 3-5, with and without disabilities, practice important skills including thinking, language, motor coordination and understanding emotions through a multi-sensory experience.

Green Bay Area Public Schools, Health Services Team
With a goal to eliminate barriers to healthcare for families in the Green Bay district, this team has recognized a lice epidemic. The team will target the identified 80 students experiencing chronic lice and a lack of options to treat it and provide support for families to eliminate chronic lice.

Green Bay Bicycle Collective, Earn A Bike
Funding will support an Earn-A-Bike program at the nonprofit community bike shop. Those unable to obtain a bicycle can apply to the program, learn bike safety and maintenance, and volunteer at the shop to earn a bike of their own.

Jake's Diapers, Eastern Wisconsin Diaper Bank
This program seeks to meet the basic diapering needs of 1,500 children through the discounted purchase of diapers and wipes for distribution to local nonprofits serving these families. In Brown County, 3,391 children under age 3 live in households that struggle to meet their basic diaper needs.

Junior Achievement of WI - Greater Green Bay Area, Inspire & Prepare Youth for Economic Success
Students at Aldo Leopold and Webster elementary schools will have access to 10 grade-level, research-based curriculum programs designed to meet the educational standards set forth by the state.
N.E.W. Zoological Society, Tablets for Zoo Education
With the purchase of 15 iPads, youth in the zoo’s educational programs can use technology to perform citizen science, identify wildlife, and make positive consumer choices to protect wildlife, and the zoo can inspire visitors to get outside with their devices to connect with wildlife, improving human health and conserving Earth's biodiversity.

Oconto Co Partnership, Job Center
This partnership will provide educational programming within the Oconto County Law Enforcement Center to help inmates gain employment upon release and reduce recidivism. Developing this space within the center would aid individuals in attaining the GED and completing resumes and job applications, while connecting employers to the inmates before release and allowing work release opportunities within the center.

New Community Shelter, Ending Homelessness
Comprehensive programming provides homeless adults the tools to become self-sufficient. Case managers provide one-on-one counseling weekly, and the shelter offers educational programming and connections to other resources.

New Leaf Foods, Green Bay Garden Blitz
This program will improve community health and wellness through the Good Food Movement by installing 70 gardens in the Green Bay area with 25 gardens in 11 elementary schools located in low-income neighborhoods.

Options for Independent Living, Optimizing Technology & Employment
Promoting the use of Assistive Technology would increase the employment of people with disabilities and help employers meet their need for qualified employees. Information and technical assistance will be provided to both employers and people with disabilities, employers will be coached to create responsive organizational cultures and people with disabilities will be coached to self-advocate.

Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, Head Start Vision Health Program
The program ensures children receive a vision screening and referral while improving access to follow-up care through vision health education, resources, and follow-up support. By working in partnership with HeadStart, this program targets the 1 in 5 preschool-aged children living in poverty who have a vision problem.

Service League of Green Bay, Back to School Store
This is a one-day event for low-income children and families in Brown County, providing all the supplies needed to start a new school year.

Unity Hospice, Treatment + Palliative Care
Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing life-threatening illness. It prevents and relieves suffering through early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems.

Wisconsin Humane Society, Enhancing Youth Programming in Brown County
Unique and interactive learning experiences with shelter animals, such as field trip programs, camps and special events, teach empathy, compassion, self-efficacy and cooperation to youth.

YWCA of Greater Green Bay, Community Education Program
The program provides safe spaces and events that allow participants to talk openly about experiences, identify barriers to inclusion, and acquire tools for working together across disciplines to create a stronger more diverse community.

Seventeen area nonprofits receive Community Foundation grants to increase impact

The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation has awarded $88,000 to seventeen local nonprofit organizations through the Funds for Greater Green Bay grant program. Funded organizations provide programming that impacts a wide variety of causes in our community.

The Funds for Greater Green Bay are a collection of field of interest and unrestricted funds at the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. Field of interest funds support particular interests, causes or geographic areas, and unrestricted funds allow the Community Foundation to respond to the most pressing needs of the community. Donor Advised Fund holders also co-invest in these projects to increase community impact.

Grants are awarded based on a competitive application process which includes review by a grants team of community volunteers. Two grant cycles are offered annually for the Funds for Greater Green Bay. The Winter 2017 grants were awarded to the following organizations and programs:
Beaux Mettler Foundation
The grant supports the Foundation in providing new technology to hospitalized children to keep them connected to family and friends and to offer comfort and a distraction; financial support to struggling families with medical needs, including transportation and food costs; and support to local students through scholarships, access to innovative technology, and financial assistance.

Breast Cancer Family Foundation, Inc., Classroom Cancer Awareness and Prevention Education
This grant expands Cancer Awareness and Preventions education to as many students and adults as possible by moving it beyond the classroom into the local communities, reinforcing a healthy lifestyle message with creative tools and resources to extend the impact to the families of students.

Einstein Project, 2017 Kick Start
Funds will launch the Kickstarter campaign for two new product lines, offsetting some of the hard costs of the campaign including video and other marketing components.

Encompass Early Education & Care, Inc., ASQ Enterprise System
Funding will assist in purchasing the software, supporting materials, and one year of annual fees to manage the Ages and Stages Questionnaire online. Online management of this developmental tracking information will allow access to families for screening, as well as the ability to share the information with United Way and Achieve Brown County to ensure every child is prepared for school.

Exceptional Equestrians, Adult Hippotherapy
This grant will help fund a therapy horse, outreach, and other startup costs for adult hippotherapy, a service that is otherwise unavailable in Northeastern Wisconsin. Funds will also provide support for the continuation of services to riders as they become adults, filling a gap in services available to adults with disabilities in Northeastern Wisconsin.
Family & Childcare Resources of Northeastern Wisconsin, Triple P Parenting
This grant expands the Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) in Brown and Oconto counties. The Triple P is an evidence-based parenting program that gives parents simple and practical strategies to help them build strong, healthy relationships to confidently manage their children's behavior and prevent problems from developing.
Golden House, Safe Home
In 2016, Golden House piloted a new model to respond to trends of increasing homelessness among victims, repeat shelter stays, shelter over-capacity and changing trauma response practices. This grant will continue the development of the Safe Home model to increase opportunities for safe and permanent housing for victims of domestic violence and their children through increased advocate support and flexible spending.

Greater Green Bay YMCA, Inc., Blessings in a Backpack
This grant funds the weekend backpack program for students who attend the YMCA after-school program at Eisenhower Elementary School, providing food to students who have little or no food on the weekends.

HSHS St. Vincent/St. Mary's Foundation, Mobile Mammography
Funding for the Mobile Mammography Program will provide rural and underserved women and those in the workforce with access to mammograms. The "Mammogram on Wheels" will make it easier for underserved women to receive annual mammograms and aid in the early identification of breast cancer.

Izaak Walton League, Bee and Butterfly/ Pollinator Garden
The local chapter is working on plans to construct a natural playground for children to enjoy at Osprey Point. Funding will support a bee and butterfly garden that will be designed as a maze for children and their families to explore and learn about the vital importance of bees and butterflies to our environment.

Leadership Green Bay, Enrich our Community Trails with Bicycle Repair Stations
These funds will be used to purchase bicycle repair stations along community trails and roadways. Twenty locations in the Green Bay have been identified to benefit from these units.

Literacy Green Bay, Inc., English Classes for Low-Literate Somali Learners
This grant will fund an additional 45-week English Language Learners class for Somali students entering classes with no formal education and who are illiterate in both languages. This pre-Level 1 class would provide one-on-one attention and feedback.

Neville Public Museum Foundation, Estamos Aqui Exhibit and Programming
Funds will support a new bilingual exhibit and related programming to celebrate the diverse cultures and traditions that have endured immigration from across Latin America.

St. Vincent de Paul, Vincentian Volunteer Training and Development
Funding will provide training for Home Visit, in which volunteers create a positive system of support for a more comprehensive program.

Unity Hospice, Unity Hospice Resale Shoppe
Funding will support Unity’s effort to open and operate a Resale Shoppe modeled after other non-profit hospice stores throughout the country. Hospice resale stores create revenue streams that allow for end-of-life care for all regardless of ability to pay. These stores also provide families and friends a meaningful way to donate possessions of a loved one while knowing that their donations will pay it forward for others.

University of Wisconsin Extension Brown County, Youth Farmers Market Program
In 2016, the Community Gardens Program piloted a youth farmers' market program to fill an identified programming gap for older youth and to foster participants' life and job skills. Funds will support this program's continuation and expansion in 2017.